Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Flush closet – With recirculating means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-01
2002-12-24
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Flush closet
With recirculating means
C004S111100, C004SDIG001, C004S320000, C004S434000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06496988
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilets for disposing of human waste, and particularly to a toilet for human beings that is self contained in a small standard toilet size. The invention recycles liquid for flushing through distillation and eliminates liquid and solid waste through dehydration, evaporation, aeration and grinding, resulting in a dry sanitized disposable waste powder product.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of toilets is almost universal in today's society. Conventional toilets use anywhere from one to seven gallons of water each time the toilet is flushed, at least in most industrialized countries. The waste of water continues whether the human waste is liquid or solid. The net effect is a tremendous consumption of water throughout the United States and other industrialized countries.
Other environments are such that disposing of human waste in lakes and oceans and canals is in some cases prohibited and in other cases certainly undesirable as a way of eliminating human waste. This particular problem is evident in the boating industry with the direct dumping of human waste overboard into the surrounding waters. Thus, there exists in conventional toilet use and in certain environmental impact uses, the need for a toilet for disposing of human waste that does not consume water and that does not result in disposing of raw sewerage or raw human waste into the surrounding environment.
Other forms of disposing of sewerage and human waste include the use of septic tanks which are common in many parts of the United States and which often results in an increased bacterial count of surrounding water supplies, especially during heavy rains and the like. Although many areas are trying to rid themselves of septic tanks, they are still quite common.
Another problem is that chemical toilets utilize very toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid or chlorine, which are poured into a holding tank for purification purposes. Often the material can be ground up and treated with very undesirable toxic chemicals that can be harmful to the environment when the entire matter is released.
The present invention solves the problem by providing a toilet that dehydrates, sanitizes and reduces human waste to a safely disposable powder or ash that can be returned to the soil.
Many patents have been issued in which the drying of human waste occurs. Composting toilets such as U.S. Pat. 4,364,130 issued Dec. 21, 1982, to Persson are basically boxes with an agitation and aeration apparatus. They reduce the waste by removing the water content through natural ventilation means. This method deposits new waste on top of old, like an outhouse, without eliminating the odor and with very slow and undependable drying. This is undesirable in most cases.
Incineration toilets reduce the water content in human waste through heat as in baking. They also deposit new waste on top of old to deliver clumps of dried waste material. Alternative heat sources have also been used including heat from the tail pipe of an engine to remove wastewater content as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,888 issued Feb. 10, 1976, to Sturtevant. Here, grinding, pumping and metering delivers a steady flow of waste to a tailpipe for vaporization and the blowing of the waste powder into the air. This method is not desired or allowed in most regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,930 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to Kishi, et al,. shows a device for drying raw sewerage. The device employees a plurality of heat balls which are paddled around and which allow for some dehydration of sewerage. The system here requires a fairly inefficient array of chemical elements, which attempt to dehydrate the waste materials.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,074, 5,230,164, and 5,564,133 all issued to Kishi continue the drying theory but fail to perform the operation in a small standard size unit. They also fail to explain how the toilet-bowl and intake pipes are flushed clean. They fail to answer many other practical operation problems that are solved within the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,724 issued Jun. 15, 1993 to Blankenship, shows an incinerator toilet with a removal catalyst container. One of the drawbacks of this device is that it uses catalyst pellets for reducing odor, which are inserted and removed for replacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,924 issued to Hachima, on Jan. 11, 1994, shows a method and apparatus for disposing of body waste that includes inductive heating.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a compact, clean flushing and extremely efficient toilet. It uses a small amount of electrical energy for dehydration and an efficient grinder for producing a dry powder-like substance that is bagged and return to the environment without water consumption.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A toilet for disposing of human waste safely and sanitarily without chemicals or water consumption. The toilet utilizes compressed air and recycled liquids for toilet bowl cleaning. It is necessary to use both air and liquid for flushing because less force and too much liquid is used in a liquid-only system. With an air-only system, the toilet bowl cannot be cleaned.
A compressor is used to pressurize a tank. The tank air pressure is used to drive an air motor that grinds the waste and scrapes the dehydration chamber clean. The compressor's air intake comes from the top inside of the toilet bowl, drawing out any odors from within the bowl. The compressor then blows this air through the dehydration chamber, aerating and dehydrating the waste material before venting to the outside.
The air intake from the toilet bowl not only deodorizes the bowl while in use but also delivers warm air for dehydration rather than the cold outside air used by some others. Further, the air in this invention is moving at a rate of 2-3 CFM. This slow air flow rate reduces the heat required by other blower fan units that heat and move over 20 CFM.
Compressed air is used for blowing the dry waste into the waste bag and a passive vent chamber is utilized for deodorizing. There is a heating element and a motor underneath the dehydration chamber. Blades are located inside the chamber to grind the material and scrap clean the inside surface of the chamber as air passes slowly through. The resultant powdered waste contents are stored in a bag or container until discarded. At least three sizes are planned; a standard full size toilet, a small compact toilet, and a remote base with a dehydration toilet seat. They will be available in 12 VDC, 120 VAC and 220 VAC electric.
The first improvement includes jet nozzles around and underneath the toilet seat and against the toilet bowl wall. These jets are facing downwards and release a mixture of liquid and air from a pressure tank for cleaning the toilet bowl walls and forcing the waste into the dehydration chamber through the sliding gate valve at the base of the toilet bowl.
The dehydration chamber includes a three-inch slide gate valve located at the top of the chamber (bottom of the bowl) for waste entry. A one and a half-inch slide gate valve is also located on the bottom/side of the chamber for a waste exit. A three-quarter-inch open port on the topside of the chamber vents the steam and odors from the dehydration chamber through the deodorization chamber. There is also a quarter inch open port on the center/side for receiving vent air and air pressure to blow the waste powder into the bagged containment area.
The dehydration chamber's sliding valves are in the closed position when in use. The closed valves allow the dehydration process to be performed from a previous patron while providing an empty clean bowl for use by another patron.
The dehydration chamber also includes a domed heat plate. An electric coil is used to heat the heat plate. An air motor is used to grind the waste and scrape the bottom and sides of the chamber. It is necessary to grind and cut the waste into powder for the waste bag. It is also necessary to scrape the chamber clean so that an insulat
Malin Haley & DiMaggio, P.A.
Walczak David J.
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